After a challenging primary campaign, incumbent Probate Judge Tammy Brown embraces her opponent Carol Berry, who came to the Civic Center to congratulate her. Brown won the primary with almost 57 percent of the vote. (W.C. Mann for The Tribune)

CULLMAN - A wild primary campaign season came to an end on Tuesday, when Alabama voters made their way to the polls, choosing the candidates who will compete for office in November. In heavily Republican Cullman County, some races were decided Tuesday evening, with no Democrats to challenge the winners of the Republican primary.

Marchman was excited to see the results come in and had already begun thinking about how this election win will help him in his role with the commission over the next four years, telling The Tribune:

“That affirmation is going to help out because it’s going to strengthen my position in the commission a little bit because it’s been kind of weak since this race has been going on. So, it’ll bring back a little strength to my position and I’m going to be there another four years, so it’ll give me time to work on things that I have been working on and want to continue to work on,” Marchman said. “The biggest thing is, win or lose, I just want to thank everybody for their support. People have turned out to help me and that’s a big thing, it really is. I’ve had a huge outpouring of support and I really appreciate it.”

Brown, who faced a fierce primary challenge from Carol Berry, told The Tribune, “First of all, I want to thank the people of Cullman County for showing the confidence in me that they have, and for all the employees, for all the work that they’ve done, and just that the people of Cullman County saw the experience and my accountability. And I think that’s what stood out. I don’t count myself as necessarily a politician, but a public servant working for them to the best of my ability.”

Incumbent Circuit Judge Martha Williams won by less than one percent over challenger Melvin Hasting, who fought Williams in the most vocal and belligerent campaign of the season.

Provisional ballots have yet to be counted, but if Tuesday’s vote count stands, Hasting would have to receive 303 more provisional ballot votes than Williams to defeat her. Based on previous elections, this would be impossible: in the 2017 special Senate election, only 11 provisional ballots were counted in Cullman County for both parties, and in the 2016 primary, 17 provisional ballots were counted.

After the final results of the evening were posted, Williams was excited to be able to stop and breathe, telling The Tribune:

“It’s amazing, it was very close, and we worked hard, although we had a lot of help. We had a lot of folks that supported us, a lot of folks that believed in us and I’m just looking forward to six more years,” Williams said. “It just reminds me that I have a responsibility to everybody, not just the ones that voted for me and of course I take that very much to heart. I’m the judge that’s supposed to hear anything that comes in front of me and I don’t care who they voted for, I have to be fair and I will be.”

Hasting’s supporters took to social media almost immediately following the posting of the evening’s results, calling for a vote recount.

In the upset of the evening, Cullman businessman and City Council President Garlan Gudger soundly defeated incumbent State Sen. Paul Bussman for the Alabama Senate District 4 seat, winning almost 65 percent of the vote in Cullman County and nearly 59 percent district-wide.

Near the end of the evening, Gudger came to the civic center with his family and supporters. After many hugs and handshakes, he took a moment to tell The Tribune what he planned to do.

“Take a deep breath, you know, be with the family for a few days and just kind of put my phone on mute for once, and just set it down, and just kind of let my family get back together, and clean up everything from the election campaign and then start fresh probably the beginning of the week, and start going and continuing to talk to people and listen to their needs and concerns, and still do my day-to-day work,” he said. “I’ve still got to work and pay my bills, so, that’s part of life.”

Gudger also said that there would be “No bragging, just thankful and honored that the people of this great district decided to vote for me. I want to make sure that they know that I feel honored and appreciative, and that I will do everything in my power to be the best senator I possibly can, and listen to them, be approachable, give them respect, and make sure we work as a team. There’s no ‘I’ in ‘team,’ and I’ve always had that motto.

“It’s amazing how all these days line up: it’s my mother and my father’s anniversary today; and he’s looking down from above on us, and just smiling at me and Mom right now, and the family, so I’m real happy.”

The Democratic Party did not field a candidate to oppose Gudger for the District 4 seat.

Garlan Gudger defeated incumbent State Sen.Paul Bussman with 65 percent of the vote in Cullman County, and 59 percent district-wide.

Circuit Judge Martha Williams watches results with husband Bill McCartney at the Cullman Civic Center. At the end of the night, she led challenger Melvin Hasting by 302 votes, a margin of roughly one percent.